Moors murderer Ian Brady’s twisted last wish has the coroner refusing to release his body for cremation

Martin Evans and Robert Mendick, The Telegraph05.18.2017

A plaque in memory of Keith Bennett and his mother Winnie Johnson sits next to floral tributes overlooking Saddleworth Moor where the body of Bennett may be buried in Saddleworth, United Kingdom.

Ian Brady has died in high-security hospital at age 79. Brady and his then-girlfriend Myra Hindley kidnapped and murdered five children in the 1960s and buried at least four of their bodies on Saddleworth Moor in northwest England.

Police search Saddleworth Moor in northeastern England, Thursday after a body was found there. It was believed to be another victim of Myra Hindley and her ex-lover Ian Brady.

A combination of handout pictures created in London on May 15, 2017 shows undated police handout photographs released by Greater Manchester Police of 'Moors murderers' Ian Brady (L) and Myra Hindley (R).

LONDON — Ian Brady made a final request that his ashes be scattered on the moors where he buried his victims, a coroner has suggested.

The serial killer is believed to have made the demand in his will, but an inquest into his death heard that such an act would be “offensive” and morally improper.

A coroner refused to release his body Tuesday night until assurances were given that any such demand was not met.

Brady died without revealing the whereabouts of the body of Keith Bennett, the only victim never to have been found. Keith was murdered in June 1964, the third of the Moors murderers’ five victims. The boy’s mother, Winnie Johnson, spent years pleading with Brady to let her know where his remains were so she could give him a Christian burial.

But she died in 2012 having never discovered the truth.

Brady died of heart failure on Monday night at Ashworth high security hospital on Merseyside.

At the inquest into his death, held at Southport Town Hall Tuesday, the senior coroner for Sefton, Christopher Sumner said Brady’s ashes should not be scattered on Saddleworth Moor — the place where he and Myra Hindley buried their victim’s bodies.

Terry West, 66, whose sister Lesley Ann Downey was murdered by Brady, last night said: “It is the final act of a twisted, evil man. For the coroner to order this ban must mean Brady stipulated his ashes should be scattered on Saddleworth Moor.”

In a telephone call at 9 p.m. on Monday, West was informed by police that Brady had died. He opened a bottle of wine to mark the event. “We have been waiting for him to die for 50 years,” he said.

Brady’s lawyer Robin Makin, the executor of his will, visited him in the hours before his death to discuss his legal wishes and funeral arrangements, but would not disclose what requests the killer had made.

But Chief Inspector Ian Hanson, chairman of the Greater Manchester branch of the Police Federation, said Brady deserved no dignity in death.

He said: “When somebody dies, it is natural in a civilized society that we show compassion.

“However, there are exceptions — and this monster is one of them.

“He had no right to breathe the same air as those decent and dignified relatives whom he tortured for decades by refusing to assist in the search for their loved ones.”

Sumner told the hearing he had received a request to release the body of Brady, but he said he wanted certain assurances before doing so. He said: “I would like an assurance before I do so that first of all the person who asked to take over responsibility for that funeral has a funeral director willing to deal with the funeral and that he has a crematorium willing and able to cremate Mr Stewart-Brady’s body.”

He added: “I also wanted to have assurance that when Mr Stewart-Brady is cremated his ashes will not be scattered on Saddleworth Moor. I have no means of making this an order but I think it is a right and proper moral judgement to make.”

The inquest heard that Brady’s cause of death was heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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Moors murderer Ian Brady’s twisted last wish has the coroner refusing to release his body for cremation

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